Letters: In Another Life
by smile-lifegoeson
Summary: AU. Have you ever wondered if one thing changed in life? What parts would change and what would stay the same? Well we get to see that here for the Letters universe. CHAPTER 1: Natsu and Lucy meet before his deployment that changed his life forever. In more ways than one. Meeting Lucy earlier than expected may just change the course life had for him.


So, when I wrote chapter 9 of _Little Letters_ , I originally wanted to do this. But it wouldn't work considering how they met. So that's where this comes from! The AU inside an AU!

Have you ever wondered if one thing changed in life? What parts would change and what would stay the same? Well we get to see that here for the Letters universe.

This actually takes place BEFORE _Letters from War._ You don't need to read that to understand this, but it would probably help, especially at the end :)

I really hope you like it, and if you do perhaps this can become a drabble series along side _Little Letters_! I even have a few ideas! So just review and let me know, kay?

 _Fairy Tail_ and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

Lucy sighed as she sat in one of the fast food restaurants at the airport. The 24-year-old was beyond exhausted from all her recent travels. She loved being an author more than anything, but sometimes it left her a little lonely.

"Number 7," a waiter came up to her table and placed her chicken salad down in front of her.

"Thank you," she smiled, who said healthy food had to be disgusting? She for one, loved it. Especially since she was on the run most of the time.

Before she could pick up her fork, she glanced up and saw a man with wild pink hair, camouflage pants a black shirt sitting at a table in front of her.

Lucy looked to his feet and saw an army issued bag and his luggage, both covered in camo.

" _A soldier,"_ even though she didn't know any personally, except for Gray's father, she had tremendous respect for the men and women who served the Fiorian military.

The man was sitting along in an airport restaurant. Lucy had seen a few others with their families, it was obvious they were about to deport.

Lucy felt her heart quiver at the thought of someone leaving the country for battle and their last meal was alone.

Gathering her courage, Lucy picked up her lunch and her bags handle and slowly walked to the table with the lone soldier, "Hi…"

His dark eyes lazily glanced over to see who was speaking, they widened when they landed on Lucy, "Uh…" his cheeseburger fell to his tray.

"Would you like some company?"

"S-sure, um…" his eyes stayed on her the whole time she pulled out the chair next to him, putting her purse in the one across from him so she could be closer.

"Sorry, I know that must be an odd request coming from a stranger," she pushed hair behind her ear, actually realizing how strange she must seem.

"No! Not at all!" his shock had finally worn off and a large smile spread over his face, "my last meal in Magnolia with a pretty girl like you is a lot better than me sitting her alone!"

Lucy looked down to her tray to hide her growing blush, "W-well I'm glad."

"Heh," he picked up his burger and took a big chunk of a bite, "I'm Natsu, by the way. Natsu Dragneel."

" _A proper name for such an odd one as him,_ " Lucy picked up her fork, "Nice to meet you, I'm Lucy Heartfilia."

He grinned, Lucy could tell already that he must have been a people person, "You from here?"

"Not originally," she put her hand over her mouth, trying to be polite and not talk with food in her mouth, "but it's where I live now."

"What do you do?" Natsu didn't care about being polite, he just shoved a handful of fries in his still smiling face.

"I'm a writer," she put her fork down to dig through her bag, "I'm actually coming home from my latest book tour," she pulled out a white hardback book.

"Zero?" he wiped his hands before taking the offered book, "What's it about?"

"It's a love story about an accidental meeting between the King of Darkness wizard and the Savior of Light wizard. It's more like a prequel to the book I'm writing now. It's going to be a big series I feel like."

"Wizards? Cool!" Natsu's eyes surprisingly lit up when he flipped through the pages, "Oh man that's cool! You got any dragons in here?"

"There's a few," she giggled at his childlike excitement, "you can't have a novel of wizards without them."

"Wow," he turned back to the front of the book.

"Do you like to read?"

"Not usually," his tan cheeks pinked a little and he put the book down, "but when I have down time it gets my mind off of what's going on around me. Passes the time too, so I take a couple with me. Mostly fantasy types."

"Oh," she picked at her plate, "well, it you would like, you can take this one with you too."

"What?" I can't just take- how much is it?" he quickly dug in his pockets for his wallet.

"Don't worry about it," she placed a hand on his, "you can have it."

He didn't say anything but his cheeks darkened, "Really," she then took out a pen and grabbed the book, "I'll even sign it for you."

"Heh," he lifted a hand to rest on hers, "you don't have to do that for a stranger… but thanks."  
Lucy sat the book in her lap and began to write:

 _Hey Natsu,_

 _Thanks for letting me eat lunch with you today. I may not know you, and you may not know me, but I really appreciate what you do for our country. I hope my book keeps you occupied enough, maybe you won't be too bored with the romance. The dragons play a big roll though, but I won't spoil when. When you come home we'll have to meet up and you can tell me if you liked it or not. Stay safe and make it home in one piece._

 _Lucy Heartfilia_

She blushed darkly when she closed the book. Why did she put the part in about meeting up again? It was very likely she'd never see him again. But… maybe that didn't have to be.

"Here," she handed it to him, "I hope you like it."

"Thanks!" he gently took it and placed it in his carry on bag, he chuckled when she cocked her head in confusion, "I'll read it when I get on the plane."

That made Lucy feel better, she didn't have to watch him read it.

"Well," Lucy pushed her tray away now that she was done with it, "how come you're here alone? If you don't mind me asking."

"Nah, it's OK," he chugged his soda, the last one he would have in a long while, "my mom died when I was a baby and dad died when I was 14. My brother is all I got. And his girlfriend. He drove me here," Natsu sighed and scratched his neck, "but he's a doctor, so he had to go home since he was on call."

"Oh," Lucy clenched her fists together, thinking they had one thing in common, "that must be lonely."

"I got my buddies. And I got a cat!"

"I see," she leaned closer to him, internally giddy because he blushed when she did. It had been a while since she had used her feminine wiles, "do you get to talk to your brother while over there?"

"Once a month," Natsu hesitated for a second before scooting his chair closer and stroking his finger up and down her arm, "he's not… too happy with my life choice."

"Oh," she tried to stay calm when she felt goosebumps rise with each swipe with his fingers. Come on! He was a stranger! Why was she letting him do something like that?! "Well you could write to me? If you wanted to…"

"Wha… really? I mean… you don't even know me."

The happy yet desperate look in his eyes almost broke her heart, "A parent doesn't know their child when they're born, but they love them anyway."

She carefully laced her shaky fingers with his, "You don't know anyone when you first meet them," she smiled at his attractive face, "I may not know you, but I'd like to."

"I can see why you're a writer," he whispered, mostly to himself but she could hear him, "thanks, Lucy. It'd be nice… to have something to look forward to."

Grinning, with her free hand Lucy dug into her purse for a business card and wrote her home address on the back, "Um… write to me anytime."

"Thanks," he took the little paper, his eyes never left hers.

"Hey, Natsu-! Oh," a spiky blond soldier called over to Lucy's new friend, he paused when he saw Natsu talking to a pretty girl, "come on man, we're getting ready to board."

Sighing deeply, Natsu let go of Lucy's hand and stood. He picked up his bag and threw it over his shoulder, "Well, uh…"

"Good luck," Lucy stood as well, noticing that he was a whole foot taller than her, maybe more.

"I don't need luck," he winked, "I got skills and the Good Lord's blessing shining down on me…" he laughed, "but some luck wouldn't hurt."

Standing on her toes, Lucy kissed her cheek, "Stay safe."

Natsu's face burned brighter than Erza's hair in the summer sun.

"I- I-," he shook his head, "I will."

He nodded, then reluctantly he turned and headed for the door. Before he took 4 steps he spun around and made a bee-line for her, arms spread and he tugged her to chest in a tight hug.

"Um, uh," Lucy felt her own face burn.

"Just a…" he stepped away, a shocked look on his face.

Lucy waited patiently for him to finish, she wasn't mad at all. She liked it… and in the short of amount of time they had known one another, she liked him.

"I won't be home again until May," it was July, he was going to be away for almost a year, "guess I-"

"I know," she stepped up and hugged him again, "bye, Natsu."

"See ya," Natsu slung one around her tight. Promising himself he _would_ come home, just so he could have a chance to see her again.

Lucy waved when he finally left, on his way to the dusty sands of Alvarez.

About a month has passed when Lucy was coming inside from lying out in her back yard with Plue, trying to get a little tan, when the mail arrived.

And what hit the floor was her first of many dusty letters from war.

 _…REWIND…_

Lucy sighed as she sat in one of the fast food restaurants at the airport. The 24-year-old was beyond exhausted from all her recent travels. She loved being an author more than anything, but sometimes it left her a little lonely.

"Number 7," a waiter came up to her table and placed her chicken salad down in front of her.

"Thank you," she smiled, who said healthy food had to be disgusting? She for one, loved it. Especially since she was on the run most of the time.

Before she could pick up her fork, she glanced up and saw a man with wild pink hair, camouflage pants a black shirt sitting at a table in front of her.

Lucy looked to his feet and saw an army issued bag and his luggage, both covered in camo.

" _A soldier_ ," even though she didn't know any personally, except for Gray's father, she had tremendous respect for the men and women who served the Fiorian military.

The man was sitting along in an airport restaurant. Lucy had seen a few others with their families, it was obvious they were about to deport.

Lucy felt her heart quiver at the thought of someone leaving the country for battle and their last meal was alone.

Before Lucy could stand to talk to him, his phone rand and he began talking to what she assumed was a friend or family

" _I better not bother him,"_ she dug into her salad, " _he probably wouldn't want to talk to a stranger anyway."_

"I can't make any promises ya know," Natsu slurred into his phone.

" _Then perhaps this needs to be your last tour,"_ his brothers no nonsense voice bored his eardrums.

"I'm only 25! I'm not stopping anytime soon," just for spite, he took a large bite out of his burger, not that Zeref could see him, "maybe if I lose a limb or something…"

" _Natsu! Don't say such a thing!_ " he heard a car door slam rather roughly, "What if that actually happens?"

"Then you'd get to keep me home in a bubble like you want," Natsu murmured.

" _What was that?"_

"Nothing. Just thinking how you'll have to spoil me like a baby if that does happen!"

"… _Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. I have to go."_

"Oh," an odd feeling rushed through Natsu's heart, it always did when he talked to Zeref before leaving.

" _Stay safe, Natsu."_

"Yeah… um, Zeref I-"

" _I'll call you in a few days. Good luck."_

Blinking, Natsu took the phone away from his ear to see the call had already ended.

Stuffing it into his pocket, Natsu finished his lunch, "Love you too, jackass."

Just so he wouldn't see so pathetic, Natsu got up as soon as he was done. He was going to play a game on his phone near an outlet until he had to board the plane. Maybe Sting or Rogue, maybe even Erik were already here.

He was dumping his trash when he saw a pretty blonde a few tables away.

Life wasn't really fair, was it? If he had more time, he may have gone to talk to her. She was just sitting there looking all cute in her white button up, hair pulled back and reading that book his soon-to-be sister-in-law was gushing over.

He rolled his eyes at his own stupidity, _"like you would have if you had the chance. She's way out of my league."_

So he walked out of the restaurant, not looking back. He'd never see her again anyway.

… _TIMESKIP…_

A few months later, Lucy was checking out bulletin board at the gym, and she saw a new flyer for a charity.

"Operation Gratitude? Huh, that doesn't sound so bad," she took a picture of the paper to research more about it, "I bet you could really make someone's day. Especially if they aren't expecting it…"

 _...TIMESKIP..._

Natsu picked up the letter and examined it. It was a pink envelope. And it smelled girly. Opening it, the paper was pink, the handwriting was girly and there were lovey-dovey cats on it.

"Who sent this?"

* * *

So.. can you guess what the rewind was? That's right, the original timeline! See? Just one thing changed and the whole story could change. I never thought of Lucy writing Zero until now, but I like the idea :)

If I do post more chapters, should I do the rewind on all of them? If there is one?

*Natsu and Lucy wouldn't remember seeing one another if they never even spoke.

**honestly can't remember without re-reading Letters from War if I ever said when his mother died… so yeah

Anyway, please review lovies! Letters has become one of my favorite things to write.

And thank you **StarDress** for the comment on tumblr :)

XOXO-Smile


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